Nenna is the name of the heroine of Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore, but it's also sparingly used in Scandinavia as a variant of the name Nanna. Nanna is a diminutive of various names, including Anna, Johanna and Marianne, but it's also a name in its own right, possibly meaning "daring".

Pronounced GHEED, this surname of Nobel Prizewinning novelist Andre could make a smooth, sleek middle name choice.

This name was used by Shakespeare (who got it from Plutarch) in Antony and Cleopatra for one of the attendants of the Egyptian queen. An interesting possibility, it is heard occasionally in the UK, even less frequently in the US.

The surname of humorist Ring is a new entry in the trendy occupational class -- but watch the lard.

Falmouth may be a beautiful seaside spot in Massachusetts, but as a name it's perilously close to "foul mouth." Falmouth Kearney was the name of Barack Obama's great-great grandfather.

No matter how much you love the novels of Papa H., don't saddle your son with this unwieldy appellation.

The surname Rudd, made most famous by Antman actor Paul, derives from the words ruddy or red and may have originally been given to someone with a reddish complexion.

Shows some promise via its connection to the growing interest in Ewan.

In mythology, another name for Aphrodite -- but the rare feminine name that sounds better for a boy.

Remarkable Pettibone was a self-important housekeeper in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. Such names were not uncommon in early America, with such choices as Remember and Experience showing up in the records along with Puritan virtue names such as Chastity and Patience.

An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.

Lionel is yet another traditional boy's name entering the girls' column--at least once-- via prizewinning novelist Lionel (born Margaret Ann) Shriver.

The Alhambra, which means "red city," is in Granada, Spain. British writer Ali Smith used it for a character in her novel The Accidental.

The mixed-race heroine of one of Gertrude Stein's Three Lives searches for knowledge and power.